The pragmatics of diminutives in colloquial Jordanian Arabic

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This paper investigates the pragmatic functions of diminutives in colloquial Jordanian Arabic (CJA) in the light of Brown and Levinson's model of linguistic politeness. Analysis of naturally occurring data of diminutive use shows that, as an extension of their central use with children, diminutives in CJA have taken on the pragmatic functions of expressing a pejorative attitude, showing affection and endearment, intensifying the speaker's emotions, hedging an utterance, minimizing imposition, showing modesty and avoiding bragging, and asserting intimacy in joking contexts. A peculiar use of the diminutive in CJA is for mild insulting realized through marking the diminutive on a proper name in antagonistic contexts. It is noted that the diminutive is mainly hearer-supportive, boosting the force of the utterance in positive politeness contexts while mitigating the force of the utterance in negative politeness contexts. The diminutive in CJA is thus used both as a positive politeness strategy, oriented toward expressing affection and endearment and establishing a friendly context for the interaction, and as a negative politeness strategy aimed at minimizing imposition and softening negative statements. These pragmatic functions reflect the role of diminutives in colloquial discourse as a device utilized to mark, establish, or assert social relationships.